Are you referring to the long list of U.S. military incursions? Or are you referring to all the people who suffer and die because their local economies are crushed by subsidized U.S. agricultural products? If you are, in fact, talking about abortion, do you know that the most abortions occur in places where the procedure is illegal? Do you know that the fewest occur in places where sex education and contraception (and prosperity with a social safety net) make unwanted pregnancy rather rare?

Any faith, not just those above, is silly superstitious nonsense. Refusing to go to school because you (or your family) cherish the symbols of such superstition is, frankly, stupid.

Custer's Revenge came out in 1982 or 1983, not 1989, which actually makes a lot of difference if you read any of the articles about it or look at the screen shots.

Has there ever been an honor killing committed by atheists?

I get frustrated, offended, and confused when people say that atheists believe in nothing. I believe in nothing supernatural, but everything is not supernatural... right?

One doesn't "become" lesbian, though I think you know that.

It's certainly better than only meeting 10 or 20 people through one's family, but it's still crazy. These people are in France and Britain. Most women there see no need to be virgins at marriage, if they get married at all! Why are there "French Muslims" and "British Muslims" at all? One would think freedom from religion would be appealing. I guess to a point it is, and we just have to give it a little more time and effort.

Many of the deaths attributed to Stalin are at least partially Hitler's fault, and besides, atheism wasn't Stalin's primary motivation, Stalinism was. Besides, the world's population was a lot higher by Stalin's reign, and technology had made killing more efficient.

"But for good people to do bad things, that needs religion," to paraphrase somebody. It's still missing the point to say that religion, or lack of religion, plays no role. Religion has an extraordinary effect on the human psyche, with mostly negative results. Are you familiar with the Battle of Jericho experiment?

It's religion, people. Witness the cognitive dissonance: They go to the big bad non-Muslim (even non-religious!) West in order to get their educations. While there, they have sex. Then, instead of doing what's necessary to stay in these lands where having sex without shackles is a non-issue, they go back to their backward, religious homelands to be shackled to some man. In order to do this, they decide to get their hymens restored even though the hymen does not necessarily have anything to do with chastity.

And then, of course, there's the cognitive dissonance rampant among their family members, who may do horrible things to these women, all because they (the women) have had sex.

OK, I made it all plain. There it is, in front of me. I just can't understand the mindset of these people. It's not just Muslims, of course. Does anybody have any insight into the psychology on display here?

I saw Away From Her at the AFI film festival here in Dallas. I met Sarah Polley at the after-party, and she signed my "Sweet Hereafter" soundtrack booklet. During the Q&A in the theater, I didn't have the heart to ask this question: "After making this film, do you understand the perspective of Ernest Hemingway, Hunter S. Thompson, James Whale, and Sara Teasdale, who all decided they would rather not let themselves reach that point?" After watching my grandparents go through nightmarish second childhoods, I certainly have.

I hope you teach your children to use better grammar than that.

Do you have any anecdotes about encountering that incredible level of misinformation? I understand that there are lots of myths out there, but how could the vaginal rape of a fertile woman not potentially impregnate her? I can't understand that one.

Isn't it true in that much prejudice against darker-skinned people has its roots in some biblical nonsense about how the followers (or children, or whatever) of Ham were made black for their sins?

The era of racist lynchings in America may not have had much to do with religion, but things like that are the exception that proves the rule. Religion stops a thinking mind.